Thomas just headed out to Rapid City, South Dakota to begin his job as a trust advisor for the Concord Trust Company. I’m so proud of him, but also South Dakota is far away. This is a bummer for two reasons. One, he’s no longer just a 2 hour drive from Stratton. Two, he is currently in the middle of Ohio driving across the country (it’s a 30 hour drive). I’ve always been one to deal with stress through cooking, so I went on the hunt for a recipe that would alleviate some sadness through slight sweetness, and be portable so Thomas could have some high quality road snacks…and avoid expired Twinkies from 7/11.

The other constraint I was dealing with was time. I decided to make him these cookies at the last possible second, so I need a 20 minute miracle. And I needed to have everything I needed already in the cupboard.  I had tahini and honey and almond flour, and when I typed these into the Google machine, came across a very simple yet highly rated recipe from Food and Wine. I didn’t modify these at all, although next time I might throw a couple dark chocolate chips in there…because dark chocolate is a cure-all-maladies type of food.

These were meant to last Thomas the whole trip, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t make it past Vermont.

Sesame Tahini Cookies

Food and Wine says it makes 30…mine made more like 20 

The Stuff

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup tahini

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The how

1. Place sesame seeds in a bowl (you’ll use this for rolling the little cookies in). Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment paper

2. In a medium bowl, mix the almond flour, baking soda, and salt together.

3. In a separate smaller bowl, mix the honey, tahini and vanilla together.

4. Create a small well in the dry ingredients, and pour the wet mixture into the center. Using a wooden spoon fold together until completely combined.

5. Using your hands, make golf ball sized balls of dough, roll in the sesame seeds,  and gently flatten. Place on cookie sheet and repeat until all the dough has been used.

6. Bake for 8 minutes, switching pans from top to bottom half way through. They should be  just turning golden brown on the bottom.

7. Let cool completely, and in my case put in a ziplock Baggie for travel food!